‘200 elephants’

Such comparisons highlight the importance of the launch for the country, which is aggressively competing to get a bigger share of the global commercial satellite launch market.

India has so far relied on other countries to send heavy satellites into space, which is expensive and a drain on Isro’s budget.

The GSLV Mark III can carry a satellite weighting more than three tonnes.

‘Jumbo jets’

The NDTV website says the rocket is as heavy as five Jumbo jets. And the weight matters because communication satellites are quite heavy.

Experts say the rocket gives India more flexibility in launching different kinds of satellites.

“We were able to send [satellites weighing] up to two tonnes previously. This is a double quantum jump for India,” Ajay Lele from the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses told the AFP news agency.

‘The monster’

Isro hopes hopes that the rocket, called the monster by one newspaper, will be able to carry an astronaut to space by 2024.

India wants to become the fourth country after the US, China and Russia to send a person into space.